Method and apparatus of mounting and securing a rectilinear element on a support member of a machine

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for securely mounting a rectilinear element on a support member comprising a support member having a trapezoidal section grooved therein and a rectilinear element having a complementary trapezoidal shaped portion received in the groove, the two trapezoidal shapes being such that when the rectilinear element is inserted in the groove a slight play will exist between the complementary inclined sides of the grooved element and a high pressure is exerted on the inclined edges of the groove to bed the rectilinear element in the groove.

United States Patent Neuman et al.

1451 Aug. 22, 1972 METHOD AND APPARATUS OF MOUNTING AND SECURING ARECTILINEAR ELEMENT ON A SUPPORT MEMBER OF A MACHINE Inventors: MarcelL. Neuman, 19 rue Chabannes, Collonges-Au-Mont DOR; Louis F. Colomb, 22rue Edouard ldoux, Givors, both of France Filed: Nov. 13, 1970 Appl.No.: 89,187

Related U.S. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 715,841, March 25,1968, abandoned.

Foreign Application Priority Data March 30, 1967 France ....6710080lJune 27, 1967 France "67112020 Jan. 28, 1968 France ..68l37577 U.S. Cl...'...29/200 B Int. Cl. ..B23p 19/00 Field of Search ..29/200 B, 200 R,509, 521, 29/160 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,135,76611/1938 Pierce ..29/l60 2,190,61 1 2/1940 Sembdner ..29/521 2,343,043 2/1944 Brugmann ..29/200 B 2,450,987 10/ 1948 Potter ..29/509 X PrimaryExaminer-Thomas H. Eager Attorney-Delio & Montgomery 5 7] ABSTRACT Anapparatus for securely mounting a rectilinear element on a supportmember comprising a support member having a trapezoidal section groovedtherein and a rectilinear element having a complementary trapezoidalshaped poition'received in the groove, the two trapezoidal shapes beingsuch that when the rectilinear element is inserted in the groove aslight play will exist between the complementary inclined sides of thegrooved element and a high pressure is exerted on the inclined edges ofthe groove to-bed the rectilinear element in the groove.

7 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUB 2 2 I972 SHEET 2 BF 6 m mmINVENTORS MoxceA L'. .Ncumcm LOUIS E Colomb x3e 0 mRNES PATENTEnwczzI972 3.685. 1 16 sum 3 OF 6 Marcel 'L- Neuman Lows F. ommb PATENTEDwszzI972 3,685,116

sum s or 6 m .VENTORS Marc d L. Heuman Lows I F. Cohpmb necessary toprovide extremely hard sliding or rolling paths. The best results areobtained by using hardened steel and, to this effect, the currentpractice is to mount guide bars on the cast or welded steel elements ofthe machine.

These hardened steel guide bars are most often assembled on thecorresponding elements by screwing or clamping. In order to avoid theguide bars bearing imperfectly between the assembly elements, it isnecessary to use more of these elements and to increase the section ofthe guide bars, which is generally impractical and undesirable.

Furthermore, in the specific field of toothed racks for machine tools,each rack must be mounted on its support member in such a way that itsprimitive plane is exactly parallel to the guide slideways. Such a rackrectilinear element, forming a groove of complementary section in thesupport member, the two sections being such that when the rectilinearelement is inserted in the groove slight play will exist between theinclined sides of the groove and those of the element, introducing therectilinear element freely into the groove and exerting a high pressureon the wedge shaped edges of the groove to bed the rectilinear elementin the groove.

In effect, the bedding applies the concealed face of the rectilinearelement strongly and uniformly against the bearing face of the groovecut in the support member. Thus, when the rectilinear element is a guidebar, the planeness and parallelism of the sliding or rolling path of thebar depends on-the precision of the machining of the groove and nolonger on the manner of fixing. Moreover, when the rectilinear elementis a toothed rack, its primitive plane is, for the same reason asbefore, accuratelyparallel to the'sliding or rolling paths of the guidebars.

On the other hand, bedding ensures extremely forcethe guide bars and thetoothed racks to be considerably reduced by limiting their width to thatof the guided must also be very firmly secured, to avoid any risk ofmovement under the action of the forces to which it is subjected.

Generally the rack is located by cylindrical or tapered pins or again bylocking clamps at its ends and it is secured by screws.

In a first well known method shown'in FIG. 1, the rack l, which mustrest on the bearing surface 2 of its support member 3, is held tightlyagainst a perpendicular face 4 by means of screws 5, extending parallelto the primitive plane of the teeth 6 of this rack.

The disadvantage of this construction is that the screws cannoteliminate the play occurring on the bearing surface 2. It is, moreover,necessary to provide the holes for these screws in the thickness of therack itself, which necessitates increasing the thickness of the latterbeyond that which would normally be necessary to give sufficientresistence to the teeth.

In a second known construction shown in FIG. 2, the fixing screws 5extend perpendicularly to the primitive plane of the teeth to hold therack tightly against the bearing surface 2 of the support member 3. Inthis case, however, it is necessary to provide on the rack, on bothsides of the teeth 6, lateral flanges 7 in which the screws holes areformed.

The disadvantage of this construction is that the width of the rack isconsiderably increased.

In both cases the method of fixing by screws almost doubles the bulk ofthe racks, and this is all the more undesirable since the racks usuallyhave to be mounted between slideways where little room is available.

A main object of the present invention is to remedy the aforesaiddrawbacks in the mounting of a rectilinear element, whether this be aguide bar or a toothed rack.

According to the present invention a method of mounting a rectilinearelement on a support member comprises imparting a trapezoidal section tothe members (guide blocks or rollers) and to that of the meshingelements (pinions) and by decreasing their thickness solely to satisfyresistance requirements.

The invention moreover covers equipment for carrying out the aforesaidmethod and which comprises a tool carrier on which is freely mounted atleast one bedding roller having two projecting flanges which have asubstantially V-shaped profile and which are spaced apart by an amountgreater than the free width of the guide bar. The tool carriercooperates with a pressure roller which precedes the bedding roller.

The movable component carrying. the pressure roller is pivotally mountedabout an axis of the tool carrier parallel to that of the beddingroller, this component being connected to at least one spring bearing onthe tool carrier.

The invention also covers a manner of fixing a guide bar and a toothedrack on a support member of a machine and more particularly of a machinetool, whereby the bar and the rack have a trapezoidal section housed ina groove of similar section in the support member and are flanked by twobedding channels.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, variousembodiments in accordance therewith will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in section of a conventional method of mounting a rackdefining member to a support member; and

FIG. 2 is a view in half section of another known method of mounting arack defining member to a support member;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic partial sections showing two phases of themethod of the invention for mounting and securing a guide bar;

FIG. 5 is a similar view to FIGS. 3 and 4 showing the application of themethod to the mounting of a toothed rack;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are partial longitudinal sections showing one of the endabutment members of the aforesaid bar and rack;

FIG. 8 is an elevation in the same plane as that of FIGS. 3 and 4 andshowing the bedding equipment;

FIG. 9 is a section along the line IXIX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a section along the line X-X of FIG. 8 and showing theequipment in rest position;

FIG. 11 is a section along the line XI-XI of FIG. 8 and showing theequipment in bedding position, the main elements of this equipmentsituated behind the sectional plane being defined by the broken lines;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are views similar to FIGS. 8 and 11 showing respectivelythe operation of this equipment for retaining slideways or for toothedracks accessible from below.

As will be seen from FIG. 3, the guide bar 8 to be mounted, whether itbe in one piece or several portions placed cad oeusit rfilFTBFQiQBlEGQiQB- Th pport member 9 of the machine, on which the baris to be mounted, contains a groove 10 whose section is also trapezoidaland complementary to that of the bar.

Slight lateral play is provided at 11 and 12 between the inclined sidesof the bar and those of the groove. When the concealed face of the barbears in suitable manner against the bottom of the groove this play ispreferably between 0.01 and 0.1 mm. and shown exaggerated in FIG. 3solely to enable the invention to be better understood. This play isintended to make it extremely easy to place the bar 8 in position.

In a second step in the method of the invention, the metal forming theedges of the groove 10 at 13 and 14 (FIG. 4) is compressed to cause itto flow towards the sides of the groove. There is thus created apermanent contact pressure of the sides of the groove on those of thebar at the point where there was previously play. The bar is thenimmobilized and by the effect of the slope of the sides is lockedagainst the bottom of the groove. This imparts to the assembly the samerigidity as would be found in a single piece construction.

It can, moreover, be advantageous to exert a pressure on the bar toapply it against the bottom of the groove before causing the metal toflow at 13 and 14.

The method described above is 'in the same way applicable to themounting of a toothed rack 1. As will be seen from FIG. 5, theunderlying portion 15 of the rack 1 has a trapezoidal section. It isfreely introduced into a groove 10 of the support member 9 because ofthe existence of the play l1, l2 and it is firmly immobilized therein bycausing the metal to flow at 13 and 14.

This embodiment enables the thickness of the rack to be limited to thatwhich is strictly necessary for the resistance of the base of the teeth,i.e., to two or three times the standard. It also enables the real widthof the rack to be limited to the width of the teeth and finally enablesthe thickness of the support member to be reduced since there are nolonger any threaded holes.

Regarding more particularly the guide bar 8, this can be in one piece orin several relatively short portions which are more easily accuratelymachinable. The ends of these portions may be perpendicular to thelongitudinal edges, but it is advantageous, in order to avoid anyvariation, notably when the rollers running on this bar are simple andnot multiple, to provide oblique ends. The various portions of the barare then engaged end to end in the groove 10 so that their ends are incontact.

Whether it is a guide bar 8 or a rack 1 which is to be mounted, at leastone abutment member is positioned near at least one of the ends of thebar or the rack.

Each abutment member may be constituted by a stud l6, forcibly engagedin the element 8 or 1 so as to project into the groove 10 (FIG. 6).

Alternatively, each abutment member may be constituted by a collar 17cooperating with a screw 17a screwed tightly into the member 9. Thecollar can moreover enable the guide bar portions to be compressedtogether.

The metal at 13 and 14 can be caused to flow by hand by means of ariveting hammer, but it seems preferable for this to be doneautomatically by means of the bedding equipment described hereafter withreference to FIGS. 8 to 13. The results obtained are more certain, moreuniform and have the appearance of being better finished.

, The equipment has a tool carrier 18 having a laterally projectingshaft 19. A bedding roller 20 is mounted on the protruding portion ofthis shaft by means of a needle bearing race or other bearing means. Thebedding roller can thus rotate freely, but is prevented from axialmovement by means of shoulders provided thereon and on its shaft, forexample.

The bedding roller has two projecting annular flanges 21 and 22, whichare substantially V-shaped in profile and which are spaced apart by anamount greater than the free width of the bar 8 or the rack 1. Thus, ifthe bedding roller 20 is disposed so that its flanges are situated toeither side of the bar or rack, at equal distances from the sidesthereof, if the bedding roller is pressed against the support member 9and the tool carrier 18 is moved to cause the bedding roller to roll,two channels 13 and 14 are formed in the said support member 9, causingthe metal to flow towards the inclined sides of the groove.

These operations can easily be carried out by mounting the tool carrier18 in the head of the planing or milling machine used to machine thegroove 10. In fact, by means of the transverse carriage of one or otherof these machines, the bedding roller 20 can be centered to bring itsdiametric plane of symmetry into coincidence with the longitudinal planeof symmetry of the element 1 or 8. By means of the cutting carriage ofthe machine, it is easy to press the bedding roller against the elementcontaining the groove 10 and to determine the bedding depth 23. Finally,by means of the longitudinal carriage of the machine, the bedding rolleris caused to move in translation and bedding is effected over the wholelength of the element 1 or 8. The tool carrier 18 can of course bemounted on a machine other than that which was used for machining thegrooves 10. It can for example be mounted on a specially designedindependent machine which has a pressure device and a driving device, aswell as guiding and bearing means adapted to be connected to the machineelement which is to be equipped with the element 1 or 8.

The equipment can also have in combination with.

the bedding roller 20 a pressure roller 24, preceding the bedding rollersince it is intended to apply the element 1 or 8 against the bottom ofthe groove 10 before the bedding is carried out.

In the embodiment shown, the pressure roller 24 is freely mounted, bymeans of a needle bearing race 25 or other bearing, on a spindle 26mounted in a movable element 27. This movable element is in fact a yoke(FIG. 9) hinged on a spindle 28 engaged in the tool carrier 18. Thespindles 19, 26 and 28 are mutually parallel, so that by causing theelement 27 to pivot, the level of the pressure roller 24 is altered withrespect to that of the bedding roller 20. The pressure roller 24 is alsoprevented from transverse movement with respect to the spindle 26 andthe extent of its projection is determined so that its diametric planeof symmetry coincides with that of the bedding roller 20.

As is clearly shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the diameter of the pressureroller 24 is slightly greater than that of the bedding roller 20, asduring relative approach of the equipment and the element 8 or 1, thispressure roller must come into contact with these latter before theflanges 21 and 22 of the bedding roller come into contact with the edgesof the groove 10. During approach of the equipment, the roller 24 mustexert a large pressure on the element 8 or 1 in order to apply itagainst the bottom of the groove 10. To this effect, the pivotingelement is connected to at least one resilient member such as a spring.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, this element 27 is secured to anextension 29 substantially perpendicular to the plane of the axes 26 and28. On the end of the extension 29 is formed an apertured lug 30 onwhich is fitted a yoke 31, a pivot pin 31a being engaged through the lugand the branches of the yoke. The yoke is provided with a rod 32 onwhich is disposed a spring 33 preferably constituted by a series ofBelleville washers and bearing on a shoulder 34 of the tool carrier 18.The rod 32 passes through a hole 35 leading to the shoulder 34 and itsthreaded end cooperates with a nut 36 limiting the travel of the rod,i.e., the amplitude of pivot of the element 27. 1

In the rest position shown in FIG. 10, the Belleville washers arerelieved and the spindles 19, 26 and 28 are situated in the same planeparallel to the element 8 or 1. In this position and since the diameterof the pressure roller 24 is greater than that of the bedding roller 20,the pressure roller can be brought into contact with the element 8 or 1before the flanges 21 and 22 come into contact with the edges of thegroove 10. As will be seen from FIG. 11, by exerting a pushing force onthe tool carrier 18, it is caused to descend and the flanges 21 and 22of the bedding roller are caused to penetrate the edges of the groove10. However, since the roller 24, which was initially in contact withthe element 8 or 1, cannot move downwardly, the element 27 pivots aboutthe spindle 28 and causes the rod 32 to be pushed into the hole 35. Thishas the effect of putting the Belleville washers 33 under tension, whichthen exert a high pressure on the roller 24, which applies the element 8or 1 against the bottom of the groove 10. By then moving the toolcarrier in the direction of the arrow F (FIG. 11), the element 8 or 1 isapplied closer and closer against the bottom of the groove by thepressure roller 24 and the bedding is then carried out by the beddingroller 20 (FIG. 1 l

The same equipment can also be used for bedding the element 8 or 1 in adownwardly open groove (FIGS. 12 and 13). For this, the cutting carriageof the planing or milling machine no longer acts by pushing,

but by pulling. In effect, the bedding roller 20 and the pressure roller24 no longer act respectively on the lower parts of the edges of thegroove and the portions of the guide bar, but on their upper parts, thisbeing possible because the bedding and pressure rollers are mounted on aprojecting member.

Moreover, FIG. 13 clearly shows that, in this case, during the beddingoperation the element 27 pivots in the opposite direction to that in theprevious case. This element is, moreover, no longer subjected to thepressure forces of the Belleville washers 33, but to those of otherBelleville washers 38 disposed on the rod 32 and interposed betweenanother shoulder 39 of the tool carrier and the nut 36.

The bedding roller 20 may be in several parts, so that, by means of anintermediate washer, it is possible to adjust the distance between theflanges 21 and 22. Moreover, these flanges have a different heightdepending on whether the bedding roller is intended to bed a guide bar 8or a toothed rack 1. Furthermore, several bedding rollers may be mountedin series to constitute a train, the bedding depth varying from oneroller to the other. Again, several pressure rollers may also be mountedin series to constitute a train distributing the contact pressure over agreater length. Finally, the roller or rollers may be mounted on amovable element independent of the tool carrier and, in this case, themovable element is fixed to a pressure member which may simply be ahelicoidal compression spring or a pneumatic or hydraulic jack or othersuitable means.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and described indetail as various modifications can be made thereto without exceedingits scope.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for mounting and securing a rectilinear element on asupport member of a machine comprising: a tool carrier having at leastone bedding roller with two projecting flanges of substantially V-shapedprofile separated by an amount greater than the free width of therectilinear element.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the tool carrier includes apressure roller which precedes the bedding roller.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, further including a movable elementguided on the tool carrier and connected to at least one pressuremember; said movable element freely carrying said pressure roller.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said tool carrier is providedwith a shaft parallel to the bedding roller and on which the movableelement is pivotally mounted; said movable element being connected to atleast one spring bearing on the tool carrier.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the movable element has a rodon which are mounted two opposed springs interposed between threeabutments of which at least one is secured to the tool carrier.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the springs are Bellevillewashers.

7. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the bedding roller andpressure roller are disposed on an element which projects from the toolcarrier.

1. Apparatus for mounting and securing a rectilinear element on asupport member of a machine comprising: a tool carrier having at leastone bedding roller with two projecting flanges of substantially V-shapedprofile separated by an amount greater than the free width of therectilinear element.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the toolcarrier includes a pressure roller which precedes the bedding roller. 3.Apparatus according to claim 2, further including a movable elementguided on the tool carrier and connected to at least one pressuremember; said movable element freely carrying said pressure roller. 4.Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said tool carrier is providedwith a shaft parallel to the bedding roller and on which the movableelement is pivotally mounted; said movable element being connected to atleast one spring bearing on the tool carrier.
 5. Apparatus according toclaim 4 wherein the movable element has a rod on which are mounted twoopposed springs interposed between three abutments of which at least oneis secured to the tool carrier.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5wherein the springs are Belleville washers.
 7. Apparatus according toclaim 2 wherein the bedding roller and pressure roller are disposed onan element which projects from the tool carrier.